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Do you have control?
Chris Thompson
September 15, 2026
In partnership with
It's Here: Pique's New Caffeine-Free Afternoon Energy
I quit my afternoon coffee. Not because I wanted to — because I found something better.
You know that wall you hit every day around 2–3 PM? I used to just accept it as the cost of doing anything. Another coffee, a quick spike, then the crash — and somehow I'd still feel dehydrated by dinner.
Then I tried X·E Fountain, Pique's brand-new electrolyte energy drink, and I genuinely wasn't ready for how good "no crash" could feel.
No caffeine jitters. No 4 PM slump. Just clean, steady energy that actually hydrates me instead of draining me. It's built with a premium Vitamin B Complex for natural cellular energy, Magnesium Malate + Taurate for real focus, and a full electrolyte blend that makes it feel like a treat, not a chore.
The cucumber-celery-lime flavor is so crisp and refreshing — it's basically stolen my afternoon coffee slot completely.
LET’S GROW
You Have More Control Than You Think
There’s a strange thing we do as adults. We build cages around ourselves, and then forget that we built them.
Invisible ones.
We build them out of fear, expectations, guilt, other people’s opinions, old experiences, and stories we’ve been telling ourselves for so long that we eventually mistake them for facts.
Have you said these phrases?
I can’t do that.
I’m too old.
I have to stay.
I can’t disappoint them.
That’s just who I am.
People will think I’m selfish.
It’s too late to start over.
I have no choice.
I know I have and sometimes these things are true.
We really do have responsibilities. We have financial limitations. We have families, jobs, commitments, and circumstances we can't simply wish away.
Sometimes the biggest thing keeping us stuck isn't the wall in front of us. It's the belief that we're not allowed to move.
You don't control everything. But you control more than you think.
My old therapist used to do this thing where he would put two hands in the air and toss one to the side when I would complain about something. The hand he tossed to the side was him saying, “You can’t control that so let it go.” Easier said than done but he was right. I was carrying so many things that I had no control over and each thing I let go of was one less weight.
So close your eyes and think about each one of these things as a weight lifted off you….well don’t close your eyes because you can’t read and close your eyes. Also what if you are driving? Never mind just read and envision.
You don't control what happens to you.
You don't control other people's behavior.
You don't control whether someone loves you, leaves you, understands you, or approves of your decisions.
Feel a little lighter? Hope so! Now you have more space for what you CAN control.
You can decide what you tolerate.
You can decide what you participate in.
You can decide what you say yes to.
You can decide what you say no to.
You can decide which opinions deserve a vote in your life.
You can question the stories you've been telling yourself.
I am guessing even reading the things you can control lifted some weight off of you.
Take something in your life where you feel stuck and ask yourself
Who says?
This is stuff we probably said in elementary school on the playground and it still applies now.
You don't have to destroy the cage. You can stop reinforcing it.
You are more powerful than you could ever imagine. It’s within YOUR control to seize that power!
Tell me what is a part of your life you can take control of today?
Affirmations
I am allowed to change my mind, change my direction, and choose what is right for me.
I don't need permission to make decisions about my own life.
I can let go of beliefs that no longer serve me and create new ones that support who I am becoming.
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